Sonnet Technologies eSATA 4+4 User Manual

TEMPO™-X eSATA 4+

4

8-Port Serial ATA PCI-X Host Controlle

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Quick Start Guide for Tempo-X eSATA 4+4

You Should Have

The following items should be included in your product package:

• One Tempo-X eSATA 4+4 card

• Two internal Serial ATA data cables

• Eight screws (for mounting hard drives)

• Two legacy to Serial ATA power cable adapters

The following items may be required for installation:

• Medium Phillips screwdriver

• Internal drive mounting hardware (sold separately)

• One or more external drive enclosures (sold separately)

• One or more additional internal Serial ATA data cables
(sold separately)

• One or more external Serial ATA data cables (sold separately,

eSATA connector required for end connecting to the Tempo-X card

• One or more legacy (4-pin) power cable Y-adapters (sold
separately)

• One or more legacy to Serial ATA (4-pin to 15-pin) power cable
adapters (sold separately)

• One or more Ultra ATA to Serial ATA adapters (sold separately, only
used to support parallel ATA drives)

System Requirements

The Tempo-X eSATA 4+4 requires the following in order to operate in your

system:

• One available PCI-X or PCI slot

• Mac OS

®

X Version 10.2.x or later, or Windows® XP

)

Support Notes: We recommend that you make a backup of important

information on your system’s current hard drive prior to installing new

hardware or software.

When handling computer products, you must take care to prevent components
from being damaged by static electricity. Before opening your computer or
removing parts from their packages, always ground yourself first by touching
a metal part of the computer, such as a port access cover, and work in an area
free of static electricity; avoid carpeted areas. Handle all electronic components
only by their edges, and avoid touching connector traces and component pins.
Also, avoid touching the logic board and any of its components.

WARNING FOR MAC USERS: This product is not compatible with the

HighPoint RocketRAID product or the kernel extension installed by its

supporting software. If you have the HighPoint product installed in your system,

be sure to remove the HPTRAIDController.kext file before you install the
Tempo-X eSATA 4+4 into your system. Refer to the RocketRAID documenta-

tion for detailed instructions.

Remember to register your product online at http://registration.sonnettech.com to be informed of future upgrades and product releases.
Software updates and links are available from the Sonnet web site at www.sonnettech.com. • Online support form available at http://supportform.sonnettech.com.
Sonnet Technologies Customer Service hours are Mon.-Fri., 7 a.m.–5 p.m. Pacific Time • Customer Service Phone: [phone] • E-mail: [e-mail]
Sonnet Technologies, Inc., Irvine, California USA • Tel: [phone] Fax: [phone]

©2005 Sonnet Technologies, Inc. All rights reserved. Sonnet, the Sonnet logotype, Simply Fast, the Simply Fast logotype, and Tempo are trademarks of Sonnet Technologies, Inc. Macintosh and Mac are trademarks of
Apple Computer, Inc., registered in the United States and other countries. Other product names are trademarks of their respective owners. Product specifications subject to change without notice. Printed in the USA.
QS-TSATAII-X44-E-A-080508

Quick Start Guide for Tempo-X eSATA 4+4

Support Note: Technical knowledge may be required to gain access to

the drive expansion bays in certain computers. We recommend you
first consult your computer’s user manual. If you feel you are unable to install
the computer hardware, contact a qualified technician.

Installation Preparation

Prior to installing the Tempo-X eSATA 4+4 into your system and connecting
any hard drives, you should familiarize yourself with the parts to be installed.
We also strongly recommend that you read the sections in your computer’s
user manual that address hard drive and PCI card installation.

1. The Tempo-X eSATA 4+4 card uses both internal and external Serial ATA
(SATA) data cable connectors, which require different cables. The internal
connectors (SATA I) have an L-shaped “key” in the center; the exter
nal connectors (eSATA) have a straight, bar-shaped “key” in the center.
Figure 1 shows both eSATA and SATA I data cable connectors.

2. Figure 2 illustrates one of the internal Serial ATA (SATA I) data cables
included with the Tempo-X card; plug the straight connector into the
Tempo card.

Support Note for External Drive Enclosure Users: Depending

on the drive enclosure(s) used, you will either need to use data cables
with eSATA connectors on both ends, or cables with an eSATA connector on
one end and SATA I connector on the other end (all enclosures and cables sold
separately). Note: SATA I connectors are used on SATA hard drives.

-

right angle

connector

eSATA connector

SATA I connector

Figure 1

Serial ATA data cable

straight connector

3. Locate the connector block on your drive. Many Serial ATA drives are
equipped with both a legacy 4-pin power connector and a Serial ATA 15­pin power connector (Figure 3). Depending on your computer, you may
need to use 4-pin to 15-pin power adapter cables (sold separately).

Hardware Installation Steps

This section covers the installation of the Tempo-X eSATA 4+4 into your sys­tem and connection of one or more hard drives.

1. Shut down the computer.

2. Open your computer to access its expansion card area (PCI slots) and
drive bay(s); refer to your computer’s user manual for specific information.

3. If you are installing any hard drives inside your computer, do so now;
otherwise, skip to step 6 on page 3. (Depending on your computer model,
drive mounting hardware may be required to secure your hard drives.
Refer to your computer’s user manual.)

4. Plug the internal SATA data cables’ right angle connector into your drives;
verify the connectors are plugged in securely. (If you are connecting
three or more drives, you will need one or two additional internal SATA
data cables.)

Serial ATA power

connector

Serial ATA data

Figure 2

connector

Figure 3

legacy power

connector

2

Quick Start Guide for Tempo-X eSATA 4+4

5. Locate the power connector plugged into your computer’s existing hard
drive. You should find at least one extra power connector near the existing
drive; if you have installed only one new drive, plug the extra power con
nector into it. Connect only one power connector to the drive. If you
have installed more than one new drive, or there are no additional power
connectors, you may need to use power cable Y-adapters (sold separately)
or other adapters (sold separately) which will provide power to the con
nected hard drives. Verify the connectors are plugged in securely

6. Locate an available PCI-X or PCI slot inside your computer and remove its
access cover, if present, from the rear of the computer.

Support Note for Power Mac G5 Users: Most faster Power Mac G5

computers feature PCI-X slots (two 100MHz, one 133MHz, check your
computer’s user manual for specific information). The Tempo-X card may be
installed in any of the slots and perform equally well under most circumstances.
Users should be aware that when certain standard 33MHz PCI adapter cards are
installed along with the Tempo-X card in the 100MHz slots (slots 2 and 3), the
Tempo-X card’s performance may be adversely affected.

7. Remove the Tempo-X card from its packaging, and install it into the slot;
make sure the card is firmly seated.

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.

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8. Route the internal Serial ATA data cable(s) to the Tempo-X card; avoid
heat sinks and make sure the cables will not get crushed or pinched by any
part of the case when the computer is reassembled.

9. Plug in the internal Serial ATA data cable(s) to the Tempo-X card.

10. Check the cable connections; make sure all cables are connected
securely to the Tempo-X card and the hard drives.

11. Secure the Tempo-X card firmly in place with the previously removed
mounting screw if necessary, and then close the computer; be very careful
not to pinch the cables.

12. If you are using any external drives, connect the external Serial ATA data
cable(s) between the Tempo-X card and the drives or drive enclosures;

make sure all cables are connected securely to the Tempo-X card and
the drives and drive enclosures.

Support Note: Sonnet strongly recommends you use high quality exter-

nal SATA cables to connect your drive enclosures to Tempo-X eSATA 4+4.
Low quality cables do not offer the proper shielding and durability high quality
cables afford, and may allow data to be corrupted.

13. If you are a Mac user, skip to page 5. If you are a Windows user, go to

the next page

.

3

Quick Start Guide for Tempo-X eSATA 4+4

Windows XP Driver Installation

This section describes the installation of drivers to support the
Tempo-X eSATA 4+4 in systems running Windows XP.

1. Turn on your computer; during Windows startup, two
New Hardware Found pop-ups will briefly appear, with IDE
Controller and Standard Dual Channel PCI IDE Controller
listed as the new hardware types.

2. Log on to the Internet and point your web browser to:
www.sonnettech.com/downloads/adapter_sw.html#tsata­xwin

3. Find the icon that matches the version of Windows XP you
are using, and then click the Download button beneath it,
and save the file to your desktop.

4. Click Start > Control Panel. When the Control Panel window
appears, double-click the System icon.

5. When the System Properties window appears, click the
Hardware tab, and then click

6. When the Device Manager window appears, click on the +
next to IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers to expand the list. Right­click on Standard PCI IDE Controller and select Update
Driver.

Device Manager.

15. When the next window appears, click Finish.

16. Click Start > Turn Off Computer, and then click Restart;
you may now format drives attached to the Tempo-X card.

Windows Drive Formatting

If you intend to format drives connected to the Tempo-X eSATA
4+4 using Windows drive formatting tools, you may locate the
information by using “format volume” as the search item in
Windows Help.

7. When the Hardware Update Wizard window appears, select
“No, not this

8. When the next window appears, select “Install from a list
or

specific location (Advanced)” and then click Next.

9. When the next window appears, select “Don’t search. I will
choose the driver to install” and then click

10. When the next window appears requesting you to select
the device driver, select Standard Dual Channel PCI IDE
Controller from the list, and then click

11. When the Install From Disk window appears, click Browse.

12. Navigate to and open the Tempo-X Windows XP or Tempo-
X Windows XP x64 folder, select “mvsata”, and then click
Open.

13. When the Hardware Update Wizard window appears again,
click

Next.

14. When the Hardware Installation window appears, the
Tempo-X eSATA card will be identified as “Marvel Serial ATA
PCI-X Adapter”; click
be installed.

time”, and then click Next.

Next.

Have Disk…

Continue Anyway and the driver will

4

Quick Start Guide for Tempo-X eSATA 4+4

Drive Formatting—Individual Drives (Not in a RAID Array)

This section describes the process of formatting (initializing) individual hard
drives connected to the Tempo-X eSATA 4+4 using Disk Utility under Mac OS
X Version 10.3; the process under Versions 10.4 and 10.2 are very similar. If you
intend to create a RAID array with the drives attached to the Tempo-X card,
skip to “Drive Formatting—RAID Arrays” on the next page.

1. Turn on your computer. During startup, your computer may display a
message(s) referring to unreadable volumes; click Initialize… to launch
Disk Utility (Figure 4)

2. If it is not already open, launch Disk Utility (Figure 5). Note that all
attached drives appear in the information window, regardless of being for
matted or not.

.

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Figure 4

Support Note: All hard drives connected to the Tempo-X card will be

described by Disk Utility as having an internal connection (Figure 6).

3. Select the drive you want to format by single clicking the drive symbol or
the “name” of the drive (Figure 6). At the bottom of the window, drive
capacity and connection type are listed.

4. Click on the Partition button (Figure 6). Click on the drop down menu
beneath “Volume Scheme:” and select a number of partitions for the vol
ume; you may optionally choose to partition each drive to create two or
more smaller “virtual” drives.

5. Click to highlight a partition, and then type a name in the Name field;
repeat for each partition (Figure 6). After formatting, each will appear in
the Finder window as a drive. If you need to access a drive or partition
from Mac OS 9, be sure to click the Install Mac OS 9 Drivers checkbox.

6. Click Partition (Figure 6).

Figure 5

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Figure 6

5

Quick Start Guide for Tempo-X eSATA 4+4

Drive Formatting—Individual Drives (continued)

7. When the Partition Disk window appears, click the Partition button
(Figure 7). If necessary, repeat steps 3–6 to partition any other drives con

nected to the Tempo-X card. When partitioning and formatting are com
plete, close the Disk Utility application; you can now use your drive(s).

Support Note: See page 8 for port identification and information on

Tempo-X eSATA 4+4’s status LEDs.

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Drive Formatting—RAID Arrays

This section describes the process of formatting (initializing) multiple hard
drives connected to the Tempo-X eSATA 4+4 to create a RAID 0 (striped) array
using Disk Utility under Mac OS X Version 10.3; the process under Versions

10.4 and 10.2 are similar. If you choose to do so, you may format your drives

using SoftRAID 3.1 or later; refer to that product’s documentation for instruc
tions.

1. Turn on your computer. During startup, your computer may display a
message(s) referring to unreadable volumes; click Initialize… to launch
Disk Utility (Figure 8)

2. If it is not already open, launch Disk Utility (Figure 9). Note that all
attached drives appear in the information window, regardless of being for
matted or not.

.

-

Figure 7

Figure 8

-

Figure 9

6

Quick Start Guide for Tempo-X eSATA 4+4

Drive Formatting—RAID Arrays (continued)

Support Note: The remaining steps in this section describe the creation

of a RAID 0 (striped) array. If you intend to create a RAID 1 (mirrored)
array, the procedure is similar to the remaining steps. Please refer to Disk Utility
help for further information.

3. Select one of the drives you want to format in a RAID array by single-
clicking the drive symbol or the “name” of the drive (Figure 10). At the
bottom of the window, drive capacity and connection type are listed.

Support Note: All hard drives connected to the Tempo-X card will be

described by Disk Utility as having an internal connection.

4. Click the RAID tab in the Disk Utility window, select all the drives you will
use to create your RAID 0 (Stripe) array, and drag them into the disk field

(Figure 10). Be careful NOT to accidentally drag in a drive you don’t
want included in the RAID.

5. From the drop-down menus, select the RAID scheme (stripe) and the
volume format, and then type in the name for your RAID volume

(Figure 10)

.

6. When the Creating RAID window appears, click the Create button; all
of the selected drives will be formatted and the RAID volume created
(Figure 11). Close Disk Utility; your drives are now ready to use and your
installation is complete.

Support Note: See page 8 for port identification and information on

Tempo-X eSATA 4+4’s status LEDs.

Figure 10

Figure 11

7

Quick Start Guide for Tempo-X eSATA 4+4

About Tempo-X eSATA 4+4’s Ports and LEDs

1. Each port on the Tempo-X card is assigned a channel number that may
be helpful if you need to diagnose any issues (Figure 12).

channel 1

channel 5

channel 7

2. When drives connected to the Tempo-X card are powered and active, the
status LEDs on the card will light (Figure 13)

• Green LED ON: Drive is present and ready.

:

• Amber LED ON/Flashing: Drive is reading/writing data.

channel 2

channel 4

channel 3

channel 6

Figure 12

amber LEDs

green LEDs

channel 8

Figure 13

8